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Published by TasekPauh Blogspot
on Thursday, November 30, 2006 at 12:21 AM.

Indonesian jailed on terror charges

An Indonesian court has sentenced a Muslim man to 12 years in prison for providing a pistol to the aide of a leading member of accused terror group Jemaah Islamiyah.

Joko Wibowo, alias Abu Sayaf, was convicted of giving the gun and 20 bullets to Subur Sugiarto, a top aide of Noordin Top, a Malaysian fugitive accused of being a leader of JI.

The three-member panel of judges in Central Java on Wednesday found Wibowo, 25, guilty of violating anti-terrorism laws and possessing an illegal firearm that was to be used to train fighters.

Wibowo said he got the gun while fighting Christians in Ambon, the capital of Maluku province.

Indonesian authorities say Wibowo was a member of JI, the group blamed for a series of attacks on Western attacks in Indonesia since 2002.

They included nightclub and restaurant bombings on the resort island of Bali and bombings at the Australian embassy and the JW Marriot hotel in Jakarta.

Abu Bakar Bashir, an Indonesian of Yemeni descent, is thought to be JI's spiritual leader.

He was released earlier this year after serving two years and two months in prison for openly backing the 2002 bombings and has since returned to the Ngruki pesantren, the Islamic school he co-founded on the outskirts of Solo Indonesia.

JI, whose name dates to the early 1970s, traces its roots to Darul Islam, a violent movement advocating the application of Islamic law in Indonesia.

The last known attack carried out by JI was on October 1, 2005, when a wave of suicide bombings killed at least 19 people and wounded more than 100 in Bali.

Experts disagree on the extent to which JI might have ties to al-Qaeda.

Some say JI is al-Qaeda's Southeast Asian wing while others argue that JI's regional goals do not match al-Qaeda's global ambitions. Abu Bakar Bashir has denied any connection with al-Qaeda.

Western and Asian intelligence officials say that while JI's recruitment continues, there are some indications that its support base is shrinking. Sumber : alJazeera.net

Five young girls and a baby have been killed in a US raid on a house in the Iraqi city of Ramadi, the US military has told Al Jazeera English.

The US military said two armed men had opened fire from the roof of a house on a US patrol disarming a roadside bomb, prompting the soldiers to reply with tank fire on Tuesday.

Following the pre-dawn barrage, US troops carried out "an extensive search of the house and found one male and five females, ages ranging from infant to teenaged, dead," the statement said.

The US military blamed the fighters for the incident.

The raid resulted in no US casualties

"It was reported that one of the insurgents was wounded and other insurgents came to remove him from the scene," the US military statement said.

Capain Frank Pasqual, a spokesman for US central command, told Al Jazeera: "What we're looking at is a terrible case of insurgents planting bombs and using civilians as shields which resulted in an ambush and terrible tragedy.

Lieutenant Colonel Bryan Salas, a US marine spokesman, said: "Efforts are underway to coordinate and offer available assistance to surviving family members."

"The concern is loss of innocent life."

Ramadi is in Anbar province, scene of some of the fiercest fighting between US forces and fighters.

JAKARTA--News organizations report that Osama bin Laden has obtained a religious edict from a misguided Saudi cleric, justifying the use of nuclear weapons against America and the infliction of mass casualties. It requires great emotional strength to confront the potential ramifications of this fact. Yet can anyone doubt that those who joyfully incinerate the occupants of office buildings, commuter trains, hotels and nightclubs would leap at the chance to magnify their damage a thousandfold?

Imagine the impact of a single nuclear bomb detonated in New York, London, Paris, Sydney or L.A.! What about two or three? The entire edifice of modern civilization is built on economic and technological foundations that terrorists hope to collapse with nuclear attacks like so many fishing huts in the wake of a tsunami.

Just two small, well-placed bombs devastated Bali's tourist economy in 2002 and sent much of its population back to the rice fields and out to sea, to fill their empty bellies. What would be the effect of a global economic crisis in the wake of attacks far more devastating than those of Bali or 9/11?

It is time for people of good will from every faith and nation to recognize that a terrible danger threatens humanity. We cannot afford to continue "business as usual" in the face of this existential threat. Rather, we must set aside our international and partisan bickering, and join to confront the danger that lies before us.

An extreme and perverse ideology in the minds of fanatics is what directly threatens us (specifically, Wahhabi/Salafi ideology--a minority fundamentalist religious cult fueled by petrodollars). Yet underlying, enabling and exacerbating this threat of religious extremism is a global crisis of misunderstanding.

All too many Muslims fail to grasp Islam, which teaches one to be lenient towards others and to understand their value systems, knowing that these are tolerated by Islam as a religion. The essence of Islam is encapsulated in the words of the Quran, "For you, your religion; for me, my religion." That is the essence of tolerance. Religious fanatics--either purposely or out of ignorance--pervert Islam into a dogma of intolerance, hatred and bloodshed. They justify their brutality with slogans such as "Islam is above everything else." They seek to intimidate and subdue anyone who does not share their extremist views, regardless of nationality or religion. While a few are quick to shed blood themselves, countless millions of others sympathize with their violent actions, or join in the complicity of silence.

This crisis of misunderstanding--of Islam by Muslims themselves--is compounded by the failure of governments, people of other faiths, and the majority of well-intentioned Muslims to resist, isolate and discredit this dangerous ideology. The crisis thus afflicts Muslims and non-Muslims alike, with tragic consequences. Failure to understand the true nature of Islam permits the continued radicalization of Muslims world-wide, while blinding the rest of humanity to a solution which hides in plain sight.

The most effective way to overcome Islamist extremism is to explain what Islam truly is to Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Without that explanation, people will tend to accept the unrefuted extremist view--further radicalizing Muslims, and turning the rest of the world against Islam itself.

Accomplishing this task will be neither quick nor easy. In recent decades, Wahhabi/Salafi ideology has made substantial inroads throughout the Muslim world. Islamic fundamentalism has become a well-financed, multifaceted global movement that operates like a juggernaut in much of the developing world, and even among immigrant Muslim communities in the West. To neutralize the virulent ideology that underlies fundamentalist terrorism and threatens the very foundations of modern civilization, we must identify its advocates, understand their goals and strategies, evaluate their strengths and weaknesses, and effectively counter their every move. What we are talking about is nothing less than a global struggle for the soul of Islam.

The Sunni (as opposed to Shiite) fundamentalists' goals generally include: claiming to restore the perfection of the early Islam practiced by Muhammad and his companions, who are known in Arabic as al-Salaf al-Salih, "the Righteous Ancestors"; establishing a utopian society based on these Salafi principles, by imposing their interpretation of Islamic law on all members of society; annihilating local variants of Islam in the name of authenticity and purity; transforming Islam from a personal faith into an authoritarian political system; establishing a pan-Islamic caliphate governed according to the strict tenets of Salafi Islam, and often conceived as stretching from Morocco to Indonesia and the Philippines; and, ultimately, bringing the entire world under the sway of their extremist ideology.

Fundamentalist strategy is often simple as well as brilliant. Extremists are quick to drape themselves in the mantle of Islam and declare their opponents kafir, or infidels, and thus smooth the way for slaughtering nonfundamentalist Muslims. Their theology rests upon a simplistic, literal and highly selective reading of the Quran and Sunnah (prophetic traditions), through which they seek to entrap the world-wide Muslim community in the confines of their narrow ideological grasp. Expansionist by nature, most fundamentalist groups constantly probe for weakness and an opportunity to strike, at any time or place, to further their authoritarian goals.

The armed ghazis (Islamic warriors) raiding from New York to Jakarta, Istanbul, Baghdad, London and Madrid are only the tip of the iceberg, forerunners of a vast and growing population that shares their radical views and ultimate objectives. The formidable strengths of this worldwide fundamentalist movement include:

1) An aggressive program with clear ideological and political goals; 2) immense funding from oil-rich Wahhabi sponsors; 3) the ability to distribute funds in impoverished areas to buy loyalty and power; 4) a claim to and aura of religious authenticity and Arab prestige; 5) an appeal to Islamic identity, pride and history; 6) an ability to blend into the much larger traditionalist masses and blur the distinction between moderate Islam and their brand of religious extremism; 7) full-time commitment by its agents/leadership; 8) networks of Islamic schools that propagate extremism; 9) the absence of organized opposition in the Islamic world; 10) a global network of fundamentalist imams who guide their flocks to extremism; 11) a well-oiled "machine" established to translate, publish and distribute Wahhabi/Salafi propaganda and disseminate its ideology throughout the world; 12) scholarships for locals to study in Saudi Arabia and return with degrees and indoctrination, to serve as future leaders; 13) the ability to cross national and cultural borders in the name of religion; 14) Internet communication; and 15) the reluctance of many national governments to supervise or control this entire process.

We must employ effective strategies to counter each of these fundamentalist strengths. This can be accomplished only by bringing the combined weight of the vast majority of peace-loving Muslims, and the non-Muslim world, to bear in a coordinated global campaign whose goal is to resolve the crisis of misunderstanding that threatens to engulf our entire world.

An effective counterstrategy must be based upon a realistic assessment of our own strengths and weaknesses in the face of religious extremism and terror. Disunity, of course, has proved fatal to countless human societies faced with a similar existential threat. A lack of seriousness in confronting the imminent danger is likewise often fatal. Those who seek to promote a peaceful and tolerant understanding of Islam must overcome the paralyzing effects of inertia, and harness a number of actual or potential strengths, which can play a key role in neutralizing fundamentalist ideology. These strengths not only are assets in the struggle with religious extremism, but in their mirror form they point to the weakness at the heart of fundamentalist ideology. They are:

1) Human dignity, which demands freedom of conscience and rejects the forced imposition of religious views; 2) the ability to mobilize immense resources to bring to bear on this problem, once it is identified and a global commitment is made to solve it; 3) the ability to leverage resources by supporting individuals and organizations that truly embrace a peaceful and tolerant Islam; 4) nearly 1,400 years of Islamic traditions and spirituality, which are inimical to fundamentalist ideology; 5) appeals to local and national--as well as Islamic--culture/traditions/pride; 6) the power of the feminine spirit, and the fact that half of humanity consists of women, who have an inherent stake in the outcome of this struggle; 7) traditional and Sufi leadership and masses, who are not yet radicalized (strong numeric advantage: 85% to 90% of the world's 1.3 billion Muslims); 8) the ability to harness networks of Islamic schools to propagate a peaceful and tolerant Islam; 9) the natural tendency of like-minded people to work together when alerted to a common danger; 10) the ability to form a global network of like-minded individuals, organizations and opinion leaders to promote moderate and progressive ideas throughout the Muslim world; 11) the existence of a counterideology, in the form of traditional, Sufi and modern Islamic teachings, and the ability to translate such works into key languages; 12) the benefits of modernity, for all its flaws, and the widespread appeal of popular culture; 13) the ability to cross national and cultural borders in the name of religion; 14) Internet communications, to disseminate progressive views--linking and inspiring like-minded individuals and organizations throughout the world; 15) the nation-state; and 16) the universal human desire for freedom, justice and a better life for oneself and loved ones.

Though potentially decisive, most of these advantages remain latent or diffuse, and require mobilization to be effective in confronting fundamentalist ideology. In addition, no effort to defeat religious extremism can succeed without ultimately cutting off the flow of petrodollars used to finance that extremism, from Leeds to Jakarta.

Only by recognizing the problem, putting an end to the bickering within and between nation-states, and adopting a coherent long-term plan (executed with international leadership and commitment) can we begin to apply the brakes to the rampant spread of extremist ideas and hope to resolve the world's crisis of misunderstanding before the global economy and modern civilization itself begin to crumble in the face of truly devastating attacks.

Muslims themselves can and must propagate an understanding of the "right" Islam, and thereby discredit extremist ideology. Yet to accomplish this task requires the understanding and support of like-minded individuals, organizations and governments throughout the world. Our goal must be to illuminate the hearts and minds of humanity, and offer a compelling alternate vision of Islam, one that banishes the fanatical ideology of hatred to the darkness from which it emerged.

Mr. Wahid, former president of Indonesia, is patron and senior advisor to the LibForAll Foundation (www.libforall.org), an Indonesian and U.S.-based nonprofit that works to reduce religious extremism and discredit the use of terrorism

"Their weasel words are fooling some of the Ummah and charming non-Muslims who love to introduce them on TV with labels such as modernists and moderates."

"The Happy Clappies promote an Islam devoid of jihad, shari'ah and khilafah ... hmm, a bit like cod and chips without the fish!"

"Why can't we expressoutrage at the rivers of innocent Muslim blood which flow through Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kashmir, Chechnya, and Uzbekistan. Why can't our dead have one minute's silence afforded the innocent victims of 9/11, Bali, Madrid, or the London Bombings.

Why can't we speak out about the continuing injustices against the Palestinians who at this very moment are being starved to death for having the cheek to democratically elect a government not to the liking of the American President?

Clearly these are issues not on the agenda of the Happy Clappies who make it their business to avoid speaking about illegal wars, persecution, injustice or criticising Western leadership."

The Arabic language is one of the cornerstones of Islam, as we have heard today from our brother, so I do apologise in advance that this is one of the many areas of Islam I’ve yet to master.

Islamically, I am very young, having reverted in 2003 – and while I have much to learn I can identify with the frustrations shared by young Muslims today.

I know 9/11 had a huge impact on the world, but it wasn’t really the start of something … it was the continuation of a legacy of US imperialism and its fear of Islam.

Just over ten years ago, fit, young Muslims across the globe flooded into Bosnia to help their brothers and sisters fight for their survival against the Serbs who were carrying out a genocide sanctioned by the silence of a watching world.

The jihad brought together Muslims from all nationalities, status and culture. All were united, even those who could not travel to fight helped in other ways such as fund-raising, public awareness events and demonstrations.

The impact was to stop the genocide. Western intervention, when it happened, came only after it was apparent that that the Bosnian Muslims were heading for victory. The establishment of an Islamic state deep in the heart of Europe was simply too much to bear and so the West intervened. This is not my conclusion, but US President Bill Clinton admitted it in his autobiography.

This fear of Islam has now evolved in the last 10 years to such an extent that the blood of our brothers and sisters is now flowing like rivers across Chechnya, Kashmir, Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq and we saw recently what happened to Lebanon.

I have walked through many of those killing fields and let me tell you the twisted, blown up limbs of our Muslim brothers and sisters look exactly like those pulled from the rubble of the Twin Towers.

Yet the message of today is quite clear. Muslim blood is a cheap commodity.

Meanwhile tens of thousands of innocent Muslims continue to be tortured in far away dungeons and cages in Guantanamo Bay, Bagram airbase in Afghanistan, Abu Ghraib, Diego Garcia and ghost prisons throughout the world.Others are tortured in Syria, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria … even here, in Egypt … brothers are being tortured at the behest and request of the United States.

So what sort of message does that send out to our young people?

They read about the heroic exploits of Saladin Ayyoubi, Khalid bin Walid, Tariq bin Ziad and listen intently to stories of courage and bravery about our beloved Prophet Mohamed, peace be upon him.

Do you know, five years ago I had never even heard of The Prophet, pbuh, but now I would give my last drop of blood to protect his name, his honour and his memory.

Even in death he continued to show how strong he was by uniting the Ummah in protest at those vile cartoons from Denmark.

Our modern day heroes include those two sixties martyrs Malcolm X and Sayyid Qutb, both whose writings have helped define me as a Muslim.

These are the sort of role models and influences our youth need to follow, but instead they receive confused and mixed messages.

One minute they are told the fear no one but Allah (swt) while the next minute they are told to dilute their Islam and keep their heads down.

Since the events of 9-11, there has been an unrelenting campaign launched to change Islam into something more palatable to Western society.

The vision is a secular and cultural Islam at peace with the world through her submission to her oppressors rather than to Allah; an Islam devoid of jihad, shari’ah and khilafah – the very things we are commanded by Allah to implement in order to establish Allah’s deen on this earth.

And it is in evidence everywhere I look. Hijabs are being ripped off the heads of my sisters in Tunisia, France and Turkey. Sisters in Holland and Germany are also in the firing line.

Amd in Britain, we have Jack Straw, the former British Foreign Secretary who questioned the veil – I am not having a white, middle-aged man telling me how to dress. Keep out of my wardrobe and that of every sister on this planet.

I pick up the newspapers in Cairo today to discover the Minister of Culture has called the wearing of the veil a regression.

How dare he say that? Why are the men in Egypt standing by and doing nothing to silence him? He is insulting the honour and dignity of every Muslim woman who chooses to cover.

Farooq Hosni is a disgrace to Islam – what sort of message does he send out to our young people with his weasel words?

The nikab, like the veil, like the hijab has become a symbol of a rejection of those negative Western lifestyles like drug-taking, binge-drinking and promiscuity. It is a statement telling the West we don’t want to be like you.

These Arabs who choose to be more western than Westerners make me laugh – do they realize how pathetic they look in the eyes of the rest of the world? This Minister should be sacked from his post for dishonouring every sister who chooses to cover.

I suppose he hides behind such descriptions as moderate – again what sort of message does that send to our young people?

If we ask them to be moderate does that not suggest that there is something wrong with Islam that it needs to be toned down, diluted?

The last time I came to Cairo I was called an extremist by none other than the Sheikh of Al Azhar … Sheikh Tantawi. The reason for this? Because, I would not shake his hand.

What is a moderate and what is an extremist? I really don’t know. I am a simple Muslim. I follow no scholars or sects … I merely follow The Prophet (pbuh) and the Sunnah.

Does that make me an extremist?

I once said being a Muslim is a bit like being pregnant. You are are or you are not. Whoever heard of anyone being moderately or extremely pregnant?

Islam has been under attack for 1400 years and we should have learned by now to put our trust in no one but Allah. Yet there are those who continue to kiss the hand which slaps them.

I am afraid that we can no longer put our trust in to someone just because they might wear Islamic dress or have a long beard … I notice quite a few long beards in here today, but I am not referring to you, brothers.

There are those Muslim leaders who claim to guide and protect us but not all of them have our interests at heart.

Our young people are going to have to be very discerning since the events of 9/11, Bali, Madrid and the London Bombings, to name a few.

There are individuals who for years rallied the masses to stand up for justice and support mujahideen groups around the world and now some have become embarrassingly silent while others condemen armed jihad, portraying mujahideen as terrorists and extremists who follow a distorted version of Islam.

In some ways we are all to blame. Our greatest shame has been our silence while martyrdom operations in Palestine and other occupied lands have been condemned as acts of terror as witnessed in 9/11 and the July 7 bombings.

Our young people have to be taught that what is happening in Palestine, Kashmir, Chechnya, Iraq and Afghanistan is legitimate resistance against a brutal military occupation, while crimes like 9/11 and the London bombings are blatant terrorism.

Equating the two only betrays our brothers and sisters who have no other option but to fight or face being wiped off the face of this planet.

The new slaves of the West criticize Islamist parties and governance by shari’ah. Even student and youth movements which consistently campaigned for Palestine and Iraq have suddenly lost their tongues in a bid to be seen as “moderate”.

In Britain we have an invasion of what I call the Happy Clappies. They are being flown in by the Government from the US, Canada, Yemen and Mauritania to preach a diluted form of Islam.

They are poisoning the minds of our youth and we should be very wary before the Happy Clappies spread across the world.

They attack Wahhabi groups in the most cynical manner … some even misuse nasheeds, and I am deeply afraid that the Happy Clappies are infecting our nasheeds with the excesses of western pop culture.

The end result of all this has been a dilution of the deen of Allah, a weak and pacified Islam willing to accept the status quo in which Muslims are oppressed and subjugated; an Islam in which Muslims are content to sing and dance the night away to nasheeds, to concentrate on bettering their life in the West and to condemn the actions of their brothers and sisters who courageously resist occupation and oppression with whatever they have.

Even making dua for them now has become a crime – how long before we are told not to even pray for the mujahideen?

One of the greatest military general the world has known, Saladin Ayyubi, the liberator of al-Quds, was once asked why he didn’t smile. He answered back that how could he smile while he knowing that Masjid al-Aqsa, remained under Crusader occupation.

I wonder what he would make of the state of the world today? I wonder what advice he would give our youth?

This is a world where Arab leaders belly-danced shamelessly in front of America while handing Iraq over on a plate.

The same Arab leaders look the other way as our beautiful Palestine is continually raped and sodomized, and that other great daughter of the Arab world, Lebanon … where was the Arab world when she was so brutally assaulted.

And the war drums are beating again. Not only is the whole world watching, but so are our children, our youth, our future.

We must nuture them, and inspire them with tales of the Prophet and the Sahaba.

As long as the Ummah continues to throw up figures like Khalid bin Walid, Saladin Ayyoubi, Sayyid Qutb and Malcolm X all is not lost.

The more we are oppressed by the tyrants the more we will fight back. That is the nature of Islam.

And this is the Islam our youth need to follow, be guided by and inspired.

Farooq Hosni and his ilk are pale imitations of real men – they have castrated themselves in a pathetic attempt to become more Western than the Westerners.

He will be consigned to the history books with barely a sentence while the courage and heroic resistance of our brothers and sisters will go down in chapters.

A rapidly increasing number of Muslim youth are now realising that no matter how hard they compromise their deen to blend in with the wider society, when things go sour, they will be treated with suspicion.

The more we are told to forget shari’ah, khilafah and jihad, the more Muslims will pay the blood price to uphold these values.

The jihad we are witnessing in Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kashmir and Chechnya is something noble, a just war against injustice and tyranny.

The actions of the jihadists pose absolutely no threat to the West or Western lifestyles and their resistance is not only justified but embraced and encouraged by international law.

The real religious extremists who pose the greatest threat to radicalizing our youth are the Christian Fundamentalists in the White House and Downing Street. Bush and Blair have become al-Qaida’s finest recruiting officers.

More and more young Muslims are waking up with the realisation that it is not terrorism or extremism that is being targeted but Islam itself.

It is up to the Ummah to lead and inspire our youth, just as The Prophet led and inspired millions and continues to do so.

And the first lesson we must teach our youth is to fear none but Allah (swt).

In April 2005, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi launched the book Fighting Corruption: My Mission written by Tunku Abdul Aziz which was published by KAF.

On a number of occasions, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak was a keynote speaker of seminars co-organized by the Malaysian Strategic Research Center and KAF.

In December 2004, the Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein opened Malaysia’s 1st Arabic and Chinese Calligraphy Exhibition on the Golden Rule at the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia (IIUM) which was co-organized by IIUM, KAF and Soka Gakkai Malaysia.

In February 2005 the Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage Datuk Seri Dr. Rais Yatim made the opening speech at the National Conference “Towards the Formation of the Interfaith Commission of Malaysia” which was supported by KAF. The Minister urged all parties to be open-minded and not be prejudiced on the proposal to set up the commission.